Ch#74
Spoils of War
Duchess
By Lemon Frog
Episode 74
"You're a quick learner. This is exactly the timing to gaze into your partner's eyes. You're doing really well."
"Ah... It's just because the teacher is good."
Edel smiled brightly.
Laslo took a deep breath to ease the stuffiness in his chest from his racing heartbeat and raised their clasped hands high.
Then Edel spun around gracefully like a flower blooming fully before returning into his arms.
*Beautiful.*
He thought so unconsciously.
He had always considered noble dances a lavish frivolity, but now he felt regret as the waltz neared its end.
The dance, which seemed eternal, concluded as the pianist played the final note.
Edel stepped back, separating her body from Laslo's, and naturally released his hand.
*This must be how it feels when a butterfly perched on your hand flies away.*
"Good work."
Laslo snapped out of it at Edel's polite greeting.
"Good work? It was quite enjoyable."
A faint blush seemed to spread across Edel's cheeks, but she quickly turned her head toward Linia.
"Miss. Have you gotten a feel for the waltz?"
Linia was just as entranced.
"Wow... That was so beautiful, Edel! Brother danced really well too! I was shocked!"
.
She clapped enthusiastically and scurried over to Edel.
Afterward, Linia's dancing improved significantly.
It wasn't as proficient or natural as Edel's, but by recalling Edel's movements in her mind and imitating them, it was no longer a mess.
As they returned to her room after dance practice ended, Linia murmured with a dreamy expression.
"She was like a princess... Like the princess I imagined as a child, spinning right before my eyes."
Normally, Laslo would have scolded her for nonsense, but today he couldn't help agreeing with Linia.
However, adding anything more about Edel felt somehow embarrassing, so he blurted out something random.
"In my eyes, you were a princess too."
"What...?"
Linia's eyes widened; she'd never heard such a corny line from her brother in her life.
"What? I don't need to escort you all the way to your room, right? Go in."
Realizing his mistake too late, Laslo avoided looking at his sister until the end and slipped into his own room. No, he fled.
Left standing blankly in front of her brother's door, Linia burst into laughter only after a long while.
"I'll live a long life after all..."
It was ridiculous, but Linia's cheeks flushed with happy color. Her brother's inadvertent sincerity and flustered appearance were memories she'd likely never forget until death.
Edel commanded the entire House Creaser to prepare for the family's first party.
Even the servants with experience from other houses were astounded by her capabilities, so the original staff were in a constant state of awe.
"I never knew Edel, who used to do laundry with me, was such a person!"
"We forgot, but Edel was a duchess of House Lancaster."
Celia and Laila reflected anew on who Edel was and felt a slight chill.
If House Lancaster hadn't been wiped out, she would have had no connection to them whatsoever. It felt unreal that they'd called such a person by her name and ordered her to do laundry.
Daisy felt the same.
"Dad, I can't call the butler 'Edel sister' anymore. She doesn't seem like someone I should."
"Lately, even the count and miss can't defy the butler."
But everyone liked it.
The family head Laslo, who rarely stayed at the mansion, was now seen frequently inside it, and his usually expressionless face occasionally broke into smiles.
Even more changed was Linia, who used to throw hysterical fits that were hard to handle.
She no longer snapped at servants or threw things. Her expressions were much brighter, and she even laughed out loud.
"I wonder how we lived before the butler arrived. Those days already feel hazy."
"Ugh, I don't even want to remember! Thinking about fighting and suffering because of that witch of a head maid...!"
Daisy, who had nearly been framed for theft because of Marsha, nodded vigorously.
"Para-nim said the wicked are always punished, but I never thought I'd see it happen right before my eyes. Getting caught in her own scheme and receiving heavenly retribution—serves her right."
"Exactly. No, let's stop talking about that woman. She's bad luck."
"Right! We don't have enough time for good talk anyway."
The affectionate father and daughter soon began chatting about how delicious tonight's dinner menu was. Marsha Bohen quickly faded from their minds.
However, Marsha Bohen could never forget House Creaser or Edel.
How could she, when the mansion on Durum Street—practically her dream—had vanished in an instant?
Not only that, but to repay the debt on the IOU, she had to sell almost everything she owned, and without references, getting hired as a head maid, let alone a regular maid, was impossible.
She finally got a job as a laundry worker at a private laundry always short on hands, but her habits of lounging at Creaser House made every day feel like dying.
"Edel, that wench! How long do you think she'll stay young? Once she ages a bit, Creaser will discard her! Obviously! She'll definitely end up sold to some brothel, that damned bitch!"
.
Reduced to little more than a beggar, Marsha cursed Edel daily. She believed Laslo had ousted her, but Edel had created the situation.
"If not for that wench, I could've easily wrapped that mercenary scum around my finger! That mansion would've been all mine! Argh, it's so unfair!"
The fortunes that vanished like a mirage haunted her every day. Edel and Laslo became unbearably hateful; she desperately wanted revenge somehow.
And right then, someone came looking for her.
"Marsha Bohen?"
"Wh-who are you, looking for me?"
"It's not bad news for you, so how about a quick chat inside the carriage?"
"How can I trust that?"
Marsha trembled like an aspen leaf but sized up the stranger.
Hooded in a robe with the hood covering everything below the eyes, his features were obscured, but the exposed eyes alone revealed he was strikingly handsome.
However, the icy gray gaze was intensely intimidating.
"You were the head maid of House Creaser and got fired, right?"
"H-how do you...! No, I'm innocent! It was all the scheme of some fox-like bitch!"
"I'm not here to punish you. Quite the opposite—I'm here to help. Don't you want revenge on Count Creaser, who ruined you?"
At the word 'revenge,' fire flashed in Marsha's eyes. She grabbed the hem of the visitor's robe without even thinking to learn who he was.
"Revenge? You mean I have a way to get revenge?"
Edmund, the robed man, smirked as Marsha lunged like she was waiting for it.
"Of course. It's not even that difficult. Just sell me the information you have. I'll pay generously."
Her eyes widened again at the prospect of earning money from what she knew. She was in dire need of every coin.
"Any amount! B-but... how much will you pay for the information?"
"I don't care for haggling like a cheap merchant. 5,000 ringtons. Take it or leave it."
To someone who struggled to buy tomorrow's bread, 5,000 ringtons was like rain in a drought.
Marsha nodded enthusiastically.
"I'll sell! I'll tell you everything I know!"
"Glad we can talk."
Edmund got Marsha into the carriage and began asking questions.
"You mentioned getting done in by some 'fox-like bitch' earlier—who is she?"
"Edel! The woman who was the duchess of the fallen House Lancaster!"
"Hoo. So Edel Lancaster has quite some power in House Creaser?"
Marsha ground her teeth.
"What use would a pretty-faced captive have? She discarded her noble pride and became that mercenary scum's mistress. Then rode his influence to oust me!"
Edmund liked how she called Laslo 'mercenary scum.'
He nodded as if understanding and asked again.
"You got screwed over. But was there a reason that woman had to oust you?"
"Because she needed to swallow up that count's house whole, and I was the only one in it who saw through her black heart! Do you know how cunning and greedy that woman is?"
Remembering how highly Edel Lancaster had been praised, Edmund narrowed his eyes at the vastly different description from what he knew.
.
